Art in the Stables [[Aug 31]]

[Feliciano Vargas]

Today, the world was beautiful.

The afternoon sun glowed golden on the backs of all of the horses as they stood snoozing in their stalls. The thick smell of hay floated through the air, and the smell of dung wafted through the stables, natural and musky. Quiet sang through the air, punctuated every so often by a horsey huff or the stomp of a hoof.

Feliciano loved this place. The setting was too peaceful for the Italian to resist, and he went to stall four as he did every day during his study period.

"Ciao~" he whispered to the mare laying in the hay. Her golden coat gleamed in the light and reflected off of her swollen belly. Feli knelt next to her and stroked her neck softly, setting down his sketchpad and feeding her an apple. She ate it gratefully, and Feliciano settled down to draw.

As he sketched, he said, "I wonder what your baby will be? Probably a boy; he kicks so hard!" He chuckled to the horse and paused in his drawing. "What will we name it? Hmm...oh, I know! Apple, since you like them so much!" He smiled and resumed drawing, completely unaware of the area around him except the horse and his paper.

[Feliciano Vargas]

[[O-Open to anyone!!! ^//w//^]]

[Roderich Edelstein]

Roderich strolled through the stables. Back at home, his parents had insisted that he knew how to ride a horse properly, in any kind of situation. He used the stables and went horsebackriding to keep in shape, as he wasn't much of a sports-person. Ah well. He absentmindly stroked the nose of a horse that stuck its head out of the stable curiously. This wasn't the musicroom, but it was calm and quiet. He wasn't a fan of the odour, but it could be worse.

He resumed walking, checking the stalls occasionally. A he neared the end of the row (or, rationally seen, the beginning) He heard a humming voice coming from stall four. "Who would be bothering the pregnant mare?" He breathed. Carefully peeking inside the stall, he saw a boy sitting in the fresh straw beside the mare, holding a sketchpad and happily humming. Roderich observed the scene and wondered about the boy. He had seen him around, but he couldn't immediatly paste a number to his face. He decided to just confront the boy. He stepped forward to make himself more visible. "Excuse me, but what are you doing here?" He asked.

[Feliciano Vargas]

Feli's pencil skated gracefully across the paper as he hummed to himself. The picture was taking shape, and the horse's body was taking shape. He drew the swell of her belly and the cross of her legs. He was so excited; this had to be the best pose he'd caught her in.

"Excuse me, but what are you doing here?"

Feli jumped and his pencil skidded across the page, right across the body of the horse. He looked frantically between the boy and his drawing, tears forming in his eyes. "I...I wasdrawing her..." He was wildly upset. He'd been doing so well!

[Roderich Edelstein]

'A-ah...' Roderich felt bad. His question had apparently startled the boy, who promptly started too look at him and back at the sketchbook with big eyes. So he had been drawing the mare. Roderich felt bad, especially now he saw the boy had started tearing up, though a part of him mentally grunted and stated that the boy should really grow up.
Roderich decided to enter the stall, quietly so he wouldn't upset the mare, and squat down next to the Italian. 'I'm sorry I scared you, I didn't mean to.' He said formally. Roderich adjusted his glasses, motioning to the sketchbook. 'Mind if I take a look?' He had taken art classes when he was younger, but he liked music more. Yet he had some knowledge about it. When Roderich saw the big line through the drawing, he felt more guilt wash over him, though he didn't express it. Instead he complimented the boy on how nice the swell of her stomach and the angle of her legs were drawn. Mentally catching himself, Roderich tried to get the stern, cold look off his face, and smiled a bit to reassure the Italian boy.